Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology by Jeffrey Niehaus
Essential Papers on Israel and the Ancient Near East (article by Moshe Weinfeld)
Treaty of the Great King by Meredith Kline
Ancient Near Eastern Texts: by Pritchard

Electronic Bible Study:

5 Star Bible Program

“e-Sword is a fast and effective way to study the Bible. e-Sword is feature rich and user friendly with more capabilities than you would expect in a free Bible study app. The fact that e-Sword is free is just one of the blessings and does not speak of the quality of the app.” e-Sword is available for PC, Apple Mac, iPad, and iPhone. http://www.e-sword.net/

The following is Brad Scott’s response to the International Alliance Of Messianic Congregations And Synagogues (Iamcs) One Law, Two Sticks Position Paper:

“…[T]here comes a time when something comes along that is so self serving and so incredibly repugnant that I have to speak my mind. I am speaking of the publication of another missionary position paper on how wrong and unbiblical everyone but the authors of the paper are. I am speaking of the recent long article put out by the International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues or IAMCS. It is an article entitled: “One Law, Two Sticks: A Critical Look at the Hebrew Roots Movement.” The whole world has been waiting on pins and needles for these guys to finally solve the problem with this heretical bunch of Jewish wannabes. It is a very long article because it takes some time to impugn and slander a dozen or so brothers without coming to them personally. I am only going to address the first two paragraphs of this unsubstantiated diatribe.

I wish to begin with a disclaimer. These are only a few frustrated men that do not represent the whole of Messianic Judaism. Most leaders and members of Messianic Jewish synagogues and congregations that I have fellowshipped with are warm, loving people who just want to worship and please the God of Israel just as we do. But my friends, every time I hear this kind of rhetoric and sandbox baby talk I cannot help but think of the proverbial race card. Every word in this paper is pure racism, disguised as “Oh those poor Gentiles they want to be like us, oh God bless em.” It appears that it is okay to work on the plantation, boys, but ya gotta use the commode out yonder! Although the commandments of God are designed to bless us when we keep them, ‘you boys’ are on the wrong side of the tracks, the blessing are for us. Now and then these men attempt to feign brotherhood, but it is all condescending.

With that in mind, I have chosen to place the actual first two paragraphs from the paper first. Below that I have rendered my satirical translation that came easy to me as I struggled to read this thing. The words Jews and Jewish are replaced with white men. The Gentiles or non-Jews are replaced with Negroes and the law is the public bathrooms.

We, as Messianic Jewish leaders, have become increasingly concerned that there are a growing number of individuals and groups today promoting the idea that all the world’s believers in the Messiah – Jewish and Gentile alike – ought to be keeping the Torah,particularly the Shabbat, the feasts, and kosher diet. The doctrine which is the subject of this paper has been around since the day of the Apostles, in different forms, but today it has come to be known as “One Law One People” or just “One Law,” for short. It insists upon Gentile Torah observance universally. Most of those who teach it, also promote false theories about Israel identity as well. Recently, some of the more prominent One Law teachers have banded together and begun using the label “Hebrew Roots” to describe themselves as a movement. This nomenclature is regrettable from our point of view, since it causes confusion.

Obviously, the roots of the biblical faith are Jewish. Thankfully, many non-Jewish believers worldwide recognize the fact that their faith is rooted in a Jewish Messiah,Jewish Apostles, and a Jewish gospel. We note that many precious, well-meaning Gentile believers are drawn to Messianic Judaism because they wish to connect with Israel; they want to understand the Bible in historical context, or they simply have a desire to enrich their faith by acquiring a more Jewish understanding of the Lord.

Here is what I believe is really happening.

We, as leaders of the superior race, have become increasingly concerned that there are a growing number of individuals and groups today actually promoting the idea that all the world’s believers in the white Messiah – white and negro alike – ought to be using the same public bathrooms, particularly the sinks, the toilet stools and the soap dispenser. This kind of teaching, which is the subject of this paper, has been around since the days of the early Klansmen, in different forms, but today it has come to be known as ‘One People, One Bathroom’ or just plain ‘One Bathroom’ theology. These here people insist on negro public bathroom usage with the white man, universally. Did ya ever imagine such a thing? Most of the people who stand up for this abominable practice also promote false theories about white identity as well. Recently, some of the more prominent ‘One Bathroom’ teachers have banded together to sing the ole negro spiritual, ‘We shall overcome’, and they describe themselves as abolitionists. What in the world is that? This nonmanclatur, nomnanclayture, uh, numanclatetre, this word is regrettable from our point of view, since it suggests that the white man and the negro are one. Can ya imagine that?Obviously, the roots of public bathroom usage are white and belong to the white man. Thankfully however, there are many Negroes in the world that recognize the fact that their beliefs are rooted in a white Messiah, white apostles, and a white man’s gospel. We note that there are many precious, well-meaning Negroes out there that are drawn to the white man’s lifestyle because they wish to connect to the superior race of the white man and they want to understand the white man in his historical context, or they simply have a desire to enrich their lower class lives by acquiring a more white man’s understanding of God. Isn’t that precious, God bless ’em.

I speak to the men who felt the need to attempt to divide us all again by putting out this racist dribble: our behavior and desire to please our Father based on our ethnicity. I see it as nothing more than that. I suggest you publicly apologize, particularly to the men you spent a considerable amount of time trashing, and put your efforts into mercy and reconciliation. I suggest you focus more on the fruit of the Spirit. If there was ever a time in the history of mankind that brothers, who all love the Messiah and the God of Israel, should cling to each other it is NOW, it is this generation. Stop it, stop it, stop it.”

Torahis4Today is recommending to all believers and followers of YHWH and His Son Yahushua/Yeshua HaMashiach/The Messiah to strongly consider buying a copy of the Literal English Version (LEV), which is formally known as the Shem Qadosh Version of Scripture (SQV). Once you have read some of the LEV please leave a comment below. Thanks.

About the LEV

“The Literal English Version (LEV) is an entirely new version of the Scriptures. It is primarily a revision of the World English Bible, which was checked against the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts of today. Although the World English Bible’s (WEB’s) English text was used as a “base” it is not at all a word-for-word copy. Rather, the LEV has had many thousands of words and phrases completely re-translated in an attempt to accurately preserve the original intent of the words of Scripture.

The LEV includes the 66 books of the standard canon, arranged in the following way: The Torah (Genesis – Deuteronomy), The Prophets (Joshua – Daniel), and the Writings (Psalms – 2 Chronicles). This may seem odd and out of order for most people who have been reading English translations, though this is actually the original order of the Hebrew Bible (with the exception of Daniel, which is sometimes placed among the Writings). The Shelichim Writings (‘New Testament’) has retained its traditional order of: Gospels (Matt. – John), Acts, Pauline Epistles, General Epistles, and Revelation.

The goal in creating LEV was four-fold.

1. Restore proper nouns. All too often Biblical terms and names are altered in English Bibles to an Anglicized pronunciation. For the LEV however, these names are restored back to a more proper transliteration. For example, the Anglicized name ‘Jeremiah’ is originally Hebrew, and is spelled ירמיהו. In English letters, this would be written as ‘Yirmeyahu.’ Thus the names of all people in the Bible which have been altered by previous versions to an Anglicized form have retained their transliterated form. Jeremiah is restored to Yirmeyahu, Isaiah to Yeshayahu, Solomon to Sh’lomoh and so on. This leads into the most important names of all: the Names of our Creator and His Son. These Names are very rarely ever translated or transliterated correctly in modern Bibles. While The Messiah’s Name is usually written as an Anglicized from of the Greek Ιησους (Iesous) as ‘Jesus’, The Father’s Name is not written at all. Rather, it is REPLACED by ‘The LORD.’ In the LEV, our Messiah’s Name is written in Hebrew as ישוע and His Father’s Name is יהוה. This retains their proper Names, without causing dogmatic debate over pronunciation. Since neither the Hebrew, nor Aramaic, nor Greek languages have a letter ‘J’ all ‘J’ names have been changed.

2. Bias. There is always translational bias. Whether in the choice of what source texts to use (Greek Critical Texts, Greek Majority Texts, Greek Textus Receptus, Syriac Peshitta) or even in the way certain phrases are translated (compare Mark 7:19 in the LEV with the same verse in a regular modern translation). The LEV seeks to remove as much bias as possible. In a few cases, this means transliterating words rather than translating them, and adding an explanatory note to the back to fully explain it.

3. Readability. A good, consistent, faithful translation is useless if people cannot read it. The LEV, since it is a revision of the WEB, already retains much in terms of readability. We have taken this a step further to ensure that while it remains readable, the LEV is also LITERAL.

4. Literal. The LEV is a literal translation.”

There are five (5) appendices, including multiple explanatory notes, a Torah Portion reading schedule, a brief explanation of the various sacrifices, a Hebrew/Syriac/Greek alphabet chart, and a glossary of more than 300 terms.

The glossary is meant to aid readers in learning pronunciation (as there is a pronunciation key in it), as well as showing the traditional Anglicized form of the word they are looking for. In addition to this the LEV has more than 1,050 footnotes throughout that help to further define words and phrases. These footnotes also note textual variants between different major manuscripts.

1 In beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth became formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Ruaḥ of Elohim fluttered over the face of the waters. 3 Then Elohim said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

Torahis4Today is not affiliated with, nor was paid (in any way, shape or form) by J.A. Brown or the Textual Research Institute (TRI) for our recommendation/endorsement of the Literal English Version (LEV).

Gravatar Profile

The Church has, for two millennia, cut themselves off from their roots. The Church has, instead, planted their own tree. This new and different tree has rejected YHWH's: Torah, Shabbat, dietary laws, feasts and even His name ... Yahweh/YHWH!
TorahIs4Today exists to share with the world the truth that the Torah truly still is for today along with the rest of the Bible. Echad-One: God, Messiah, Word, People!
All of the content on Torahis4Today has been thoughtfully and prayerfully written and re-posts have been carefully reviewed before posting. While we are working on more of this kind of content to share with you, we ask that you would please mindfully read through our full archive of posts!
Thank you and we look forward to sharing more soon.
May Yah bless you.